Star Kin Spam!

28 February 2014

Hey lovelies,

I have some more Star Kin spam for you today! There are still a few Star Kins in my untried box (and more on the way... *blush*) so I'm sure another spam post won't be far off. For those who haven't seen my previous Star Kin swatches, Star Kin is a kiwi indie brand not too far from my hometown in the Manawatu. They make a gorgeous variety of polishes, all exceptionally high quality and the ladies behind Star Kin are even lovelier than the polish. Yes, I'm gushing, but it's completely sincere. Harriet and Ami, two of the Star Kin ladies, were amazing supporters a few months back when some personal stuff was going on, so everyone should know how awesome they are *nods*.

Some of these polishes have been provided for review, and are marked with an asterix. My opinions are honest and are my own. Top coated swatches are noted :)

LA Girl 3D Effect Hologram - Brilliant Blue, 3 coats

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Star Kin - Mariana, 1 coat

Mariana is one of Harriet's creations, and it's a stunner! A squishy teal jelly packed with glitter. It can be built to opacity by itself, but I layered it over Brilliant Blue during a swatching session and loved it. Considerig how glittertastic this is, application was really easy, glitter distribution was great.

Zoya - Sooki, 1 coat

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Star Kin - Challenge Accepted, 2 coats

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Seche Vite

*Drools* I freaking LOVE Challenge Accepted. That squish. The holo shimmer. It's the perfect cherry red. When I posted my swatches of this in PANZ awhile back, I described it as better than sex, and I'm sticking to that description. YOU NEED THIS. NOW.

This has a true jelly base and still has visible nail line at three coats, so I chose to layer it over Zoya Sooki. The formula is lovely, it glides on the nail and is really easy to work with.

Star Kin - Verdant, 2 coats

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Seche Vite (last photo only)

Remember how in my last Star Kin swatch spam post I lamented that the gorgeous Holiday Dreaming didn't suit my skintone, and wistfully hoped Ami would make a green version one day? GUYS SHE DID IT! Verdant is everything I dreamed it would be. I love it so much. 2 easy coats with fab glitter distribution.

Star Kin - Purple Haze, 2 coats

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Star Kin - Blueberry Smoothie, 2 coats

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Glisten & Glow HK Girl

Star Kin on Star Kin! Blueberry Smoothie captured my heart as soon as Ami posted it on the Star Kin blog. Like Mariana, this has a jelly base - this time indigo - and is jampacked with glitter. Again, this polish could definitely be opaque by itself, but I wanted to see it over Purple Haze (okay, I really wanted to wear Purple Haze again!). I used two coats for maximum GLITTA and jelly depth. My favourite part of this polish is the tiny turquoise glitter offsetting the purple and silver, it's such a nice touch! For such a glitterbomb, removal was surprisingly very easy. I did notice light pink staining on my nails from some of the glitter, but this faded by the next day.

Bonus! The last shot of Blueberry Smoothie was taken under my new lighting - I'm still waiting on my lightbox to arrive before I regularly take swatches with it, but I'm pretty pleased so far. What do you think?

Star Kin - Wyvern*, 3 coats

This brings us to the first of the review polishes Ami kindly sent me this month. Wyvern* is the one I unwrapped first and I immediately knew I'd love it. I loooove a good glowy blackened green and this one delivers. It was a little sheer, needing three careful coats, but I imagine a little less care would be required with a larger bottle. I've mentioned before - the review minis are almost identical to OPI minis and I personally find the smaller brush tends to reduce opacity a little. I love the holo shimmer on this, it's the perfect amount to complement the glowy quality this polish has rather than overwhelming it. Wyvern* is part of an upcoming collection, so keep an eye on the Star Kin store!

Meet Patrick, again! Patrick is a custom created as a brother to Noely (how apt!). Now I have polishes for both of my beautiful boys, and as a bonus, Patrick's polish will be perfect for St Patrick's Day :D This has a similar glitter mix to Noely, with the blue switched out for green. It is DENSE, you could definitely get it opaque by itself. It does require a little babying (I'm full of wordplay today! Okay, I'll stop, promise) just because of how much glitter is packed in here but it was pretty easy to dab the glitter where I wanted it. I just love it!

China Glaze - Naughty & Nice, 3 coats

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Star Kin - Snow Storm*, 2 coats

Snow Storm* is an awesome topper with lots of different iridescent glitter. There's microglitter, hexes, bar glitter and shards in here, and the pay off is really good. The shards don't stick up off the nail either, which can be a battle with some shard/mylar flakies. I layered it over CG Naughty & Nice to make the glitter pop, but it would look gorgeous over pastels too.

Star Kin - Fairy Biscuit*, 3 coats

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Glisten & Glow HK Girl

How adorable is this?? Fairy Biscuit* started life as a one off made by Claudine in PANZ. Lots of us immediately asked whether she'd be making more - how could we resist this pastel beauty? - so Claudine organised with Ami to recreate and make the polish for sale. Such a cool idea! Fairy Biscuit's* pastel blue crelly base is packed with pastel circle glitter, and has some iridescent glitter peeking through too. I did find it to be ever so slightly lumpy because of how much glitter is in here, so I might layer it next time however top coat smoothed it out effortlessly.

Star Kin - Fire Dragon*, 4 coats

*Wipes drool* Okay, I guess I'm just a sucker for a Star Kin red. Fire Dragon* is a juicy gold flecked jelly with holo glitter. This one needed three coats for opacity, but I flubbed the application a little and accidentally got it a little thick in some places - I added a fourth to even things out. So my bad, not the polish's! Fire Dragon*, like Wyvern* is part of an upcoming collection.

UPDATE: I totally missed when Ami told me this is a thermal polish! In these pictures it's warm, so it's a brighter red, and when cold it turns a deeper burgundy. I'll have pictures of the change up as soon as I can :)

Star Kin - Fire Dragon*, 4 coats

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Star Kin - Glitters

Glitters is a fun topper that proves whoever said gold & silver don't go together very wrong. So much holo! Squares! Circles! Hexes! ALL THE GLIITERS! Distribution was great, making application a breeze - the glitter is perfectly suspended. I love that each nail got a nice assortment of glitter. Glitters really pops over Fire Dragon, I'll definitely be bringing this blingy combination out again at Christmas time!

Star Kin - Iris You, 3 coats

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Glisten & Glow HK Girl

I love this one! Iris You is a very special polish named for Ami's late Aunt. The colours capture an iris flower perfectly, and this is also a solar polish. Indoors it's white, while in the sun the base takes on a hint of lavender. It's absolutely packed with glitter and opacity was great. It was a little thick just because of how much glitter is in it, but it was very manageable. I had to stop my swatching session and wear this one for a few days :)

Revlon Moon Candy - Orbit, 1 coat

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Star Kin - Violet Disregard, 2 coats

This swatch really doesn't do Violet Disregard justice. It's a royal purple jelly with circle and square glitter. I'd love to see a hex glitter version some day, because circles aren't my favourite, but that's just personal taste. This polish does require a little dabbing and manipulation to get the glitter where you want it, but I think it's worth the effort. I destashed this awhile ago and have serious destash regret, I really want to get it again and layer it over a purple shimmer. Ooo, or maybe Gold Rush. Awesome overload!

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Star Kin polish is the brainchild of Ami and her mother Annette, along with the newest Star Kin team member, Harriet - all of whom are members of our polish group on Facebook. Ami also runs the blog Everysensory and Harriet blogs over at Nailhilism. You can buy Star Kin polish here (NZ shipping only sadly), and follow the Star Kin blog for updates here. X
Lani